My Brother
by lightening816
Summary: Joanne's been in foster care all her life, but when she is lead to Townsville, her new guardian ends up being her long lost brother, a gang leader incapable of giving her love, the only thing she wants from him. I had to change the rating from K to T.
1. Goodbye Metroville

**My Brother**

The hallway was silent as the child sat on the bench against the hallway's wall, wondering how much longer she would sit there. How she longed to just get up and leave, despite the fact that she could not. This girl hated spending Halloween night here. She wanted to be out asking for candy like all the other children, but unfortunately, she could not this year, because she was here.

She had shoulder length black hair, wore a dark blue toboggan, a black hoodie, blue jeans, and black converse shoes. The nine year old had to sit there until the social worker came back out and told her what she needed to tell her. The girl sat on the bench that sat next to a door which led to where the social worker talked to another person. This other person was in the adoption business. He had been sending the poor girl from foster home to foster home. This was exactly why the social worker had to talk to him.

"Mr. Grays, I don't think it would be a good idea leaving Joanne with this person you mean to send her to. I have his criminal record right here in my hands. They've been to jail before, they have horrible reputations...are you sure no one else will take her?" asked the social worker, Ms. Bell. Ms. Bell was a tall thin African American woman with a gray dress. Mr. Grays was an American of Asian decent with short dark hair and a light brown business suit.  
"I'm sorry, Ms. Bell, but this man is the only family she has left. _She's_ the only family he has left! No one else will take her. She must be placed with him. As much as we both don't want this, this must be done," replied the social worker.

As much as Ms. Bell did not want Joanne to go with her new caretaker, she knew it had to be done. When the decision was settled, Ms. Bell left the room to find Joanne lying on her back on the bench.  
"Joanne?" asked Ms. Bell. Joanne stood up and looked at the social worker.  
"Yes, Ms. Bell?" asked the little girl. Ms. Bell took a deep breath and announced the news as Joanne rose from her back and sat up.  
"As you know," said the social worker as she knelt down to the small girl. "Your foster mother cannot take care of you anymore due to the car accident that had killed her, and since your real mother and father...oh please don't cry, Jo," she said as she tried to wipe away Joanne's approaching tears.  
"W-why did she h-have t-to go?" asked Joanne. Ms. Bell frowned.  
"What's g-gonna happen to me now? I don't have a mom or pop and...and..." whimpered the poor girl. Ms. Bell placed her hand on Joanne's shoulder.  
"Don't worry, Joanne. You will be placed in the care in your adult brother," announced the social worker. Joanne looked up in surprise.  
"I-I have a brother?" she asked surprised. Ms. Bell nodded though she did not want to.  
"Yes, Joanne, you do. He lives in Townsville. Starting tomorrow, you will be living with him and he will be taking care of you," she said. Joanne felt only slightly better.  
"So I'll be meeting him tomorrow?" she asked.  
"Yes you will Joanne...however; I must tell you something about your brother. He, unfortunately, has made some really bad decisions in his life. I honestly don't like you going to live with him, but I must put you with him...," said Ms. Bell. She hated telling Joanne this, but she knew Joanne had to know. Joanne had always been raised to do the right thing, and always be kind to others. The fact that she had to go live with the brother she never knew who has a reputation of doing things Joanne had been raised to believe were bad.

"Why does he do bad things, Ms. Bell? And why am I just now learning that I have him as a brother?" asked Joanne.  
"Now Joanne, remember when I told you of your parents of their inability to take care of you? Well before they had you, they had your brother almost 10 years before you. A little while after they had your brother, back when they were leaving in Townsville...they...I guess they fell out of love with each other and left each other...do you understand? Because they did not have each other to support, they both were not able to take care of him...in doing so, your brother was taken from them and placed in the Townsville Foster Care, just as you were when they came back together almost 10 years later and had you, except instead of taking you to Townsville's foster care, since they moved here to Metroville, you were placed here in the Metroville Foster Care. They were unable to take care of you both," explained the social worker, hoping that Joanne would understand.  
"When I couldn't live with them, is that why they didn't put me with my brother? Because he was in Townsville and I was here in Metroville?" she asked, longing for answers. Ms. Bell took another deep breath.  
"Yes because by the time, you were born, they were not living in Townsville. They were here in Metroville. And we never wanted to tell you because we did not want you to feel ashamed or upset like right now, though it is clear that you are now. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?" asked Ms. Bell. Joanne nodded, trying to take all of this new found information. She had a brother who many miles away from Metroville, so now she was going to be in the miles away city with her new found brother.

"Alright, now Joanne, what's going to happen now is that I am going to take you back to your foster mom's house and we're going to pack your things. You will stay in a hotel tonight, but tomorrow, you're going to Townsville to meet your new guardian...your brother..." replied Ms. Bell, still doubtful. Joanne nodded, still thinking about her brother.

"...will he like me?" asked Joanne. Ms. Bell smiled.  
"Of course Joanne, he'll love you! You're his sister after all," she said sweetly as the doubts flew around in her head.

As the two of them left the hallway and went into Ms. Bell's car, Joanne's mind was only filled with one question now.

_"What will my brother think of me?" _she thought as she looked at her small green hands.

--

Several hours had passed after this had happened. While Joanne was sleeping in a hotel in a Metroville, her brother was dozing in Townsville. Her brother, a tall young man was counting all the pieces of candy he had stolen from young trick or treaters. He remembered his way of getting their candy easily.

--

_"Ding Ding, kids! Before you can pass us, ya gotta pay the candy toll!" said the elder brother, as he and his four friends sat by a Halloween decorated gate in a place where the Townsville suburbs ended and where the city began. Before the young trick or treaters could pass him and his friends, they immediately knew the sacrifice they had to make. The trick or treaters looked around them and knew they were surrounded by the brother and his friends. _

_The brother was tall and had a long sleeved shirt and a jacket of orange and blue, along with ripped yellowish jeans, black shoes, and black shades that sat on his face, covering his face. _

_"B-But this is our candy," said a young trick or treater bravely as he stepped out of his group of friends to speak up. The brother did not care for the young boy's excuse.  
"And now it's ours," said the brother. He looked at the largest of his friends.  
"Big Billy! Hang 'em upside down will ya!" he ordered.  
"Duh sure, Ace," replied the friend. The friend, a green young adult with a green t shirt, blue jeans, and red hair that hung over most of his face took the ankles of the trick or treaters and shook them up and down until all the candy that the kids had collected were all on the ground and being collected by the three others. The other three varied in appearance. One was short, had prominent bottom teeth and nicely combed black hair. Another was long just like his black hair, with a snake like appearance to him. The third was physically grotesque with protruding eyes, a hunched back and a black hair that sat on his head uncombed and untidy. All of them, including the brother, Ace, had green skin, the exact same color as Joanne's. _

_--_

Yes the annual stealing-of-the-trick-or-treaters-candy-on-Halloween was a complete success for the Gangreen Gang. It was no surprise of course. They had done it every year for a few years. All the trick or treaters had gotten used to it so, that whenever Halloween would come along, they'd always try to wear dark colored costumes, so that they would not be recognized so easily. Of course that only worked a small percentage of the time. The gang was almost able to identify any of the trick or treaters despite their costumes.

Ace was lying on the couch as he stared at the candy he and his pals had stolen. Ace smiled a sly smile as he thought of their great success. They had tons of candy, the kids were easy to take advantage of, and, strangely enough, the Powerpuff Girls were no where in sight to stop them, probably the main factor that contributed to why there was a smile on Ace's face.

As the gang leader was about to drift into dreamland, a knock came to the door of the small house that was indeed the Gangreen Gang's hideout. Ace's eyes grew wide open, much to his anger. Ace unwillingly lifted himself from the couch and walked to the door. When he opened it, he was shocked to find Ms. Bell standing at the entrance with a document and pen waiting for him to sign. Ace looked at the social worker and became aggravated.

"What do you want, lady?" asked the tired young man. Ms. Bell looked down to her side and from behind her came Joanne. When Joanne took her first look at her brother, she noticed that Ace's green skin, eyes, and fangs matched hers exactly. When she noticed this, she smiled slightly.

_"Please like me...please like me..."_ she thought.


	2. JJ

**Chapter 2: **JJ

Ace looked at Ms. Bell and then at Joanne. He noticed her features, but he was a bit too tired to really care.  
"Are you Ace Copular?" asked Ms. Bell sounding serious. Ace had no real expression on his face.  
"Yeah, what's it to yas?" he asked in a tired tone of voice. Ms. Bell was not impressed by this young man one bit.  
"Mr. Copular, I understand that this might come as a complete surprise, but this child right here is your younger sister," she said. This made Ace's eyes open wide open.

"A sister? Yeah right lady, I ain't got no sister!" he said, suddenly full of energy. Ms. Bell opened the suitcase I forgot to mention in the last chapter and took out three documents. The first two were birth certificates.  
"Mr. Copular, what I have here are your birth certificate, and this child's birth certificate. As you can see, you two are indeed related. You're this child's older brother," explained Ms. Bell. Ace snatched their certificates and looked at them. By this time, his gang had already begun waking up and coming to the front door to find Ace, Ms. Bell, and Joanne. Their minds began to swell with questions.

After Ace was finished looking at the certificates, he was completely convinced that this little girl was his long lost little sister.  
"This kid's really my sister. So why d'ya want me to do about it?" he asked. Ms. Bell took a deep breath and gave him the surprising news.  
"Unfortunately, her current foster mother has had a tragic accident, and no one else will take her in, so seeing as you two are the only family you both have left, she is now under your care," she said as she brought Joanne in front of him. Ace was surprised and completely shocked.  
"Look, lady, I can't be this kid's little parent!" he said harshly. Joanne's smile quickly faded.  
"I'm sorry, Mr. Copular, but you don't have a choice in this situation. I need you to sign this third document," replied Ms. Bell. She took out the third document and a pen. She handed it to Ace, who was feeling really aggravated at that moment. He stared at the document, noticed the lines where he assumed he had to sign, and then took another look at Joanne. As Ace looked at Joanne, he began to see familiarity in her. He was about her age when he started living the crime filled life he lived, she was the only relative he had now, and strangely enough, Ace nodded and clicked the pen. He signed the lines where he had to sign and gave the document back to Ms. Bell.

"Bosssss, what are yousss doing?" asked Snake curiously. Ace gave him a rude look and turned to him and the other three.  
"Back off! I'm in the middle of somethin' right now!" he exclaimed. Snake, Arturo, Billy, and Grubber stood back, wondering what the hell was going on.

Ace gave the document back to Ms. Bell and then turned his attention to Joanne again. Joanne smiled as he looked at her. Ms. Bell placed the documents back into her suitcase and knelt down to Joanne.

"Okay, Joanne, your brother's going to look after you now, okay?" she said as she thought to herself _"As much as I really don't want to leave you here with him." _Joanne nodded her head, still smiling.

"Yes, I know, thanks, Ms. Bell," she said hugging her. Ms. Bell gave Ace a serious look then turned away and walked back to her car as her doubts walked with her. Joanne, however, kept smiling at Ace. It was starting to make Ace feel uncomfortable.

"Stop smiling!" he said. Joanne stopped, but she was still happy inside.  
"Why are you so happy, kid?" asked Ace.  
"Because I can't believe that after all this time, I have a brother! I've been real anxious to meet you!" she replied innocently. Ace gave Joanne an annoyed look at first. His look became even more annoyed when Joanne's excitement made her run towards him and hug him tightly. Ace's annoyance was interrupted with Arturo's voice.

"Hey Ace! Who's this chica...and why is she hugging you like that?" he asked confused as were Snake, Big Billy, and Grubber. Ace looked at his gang and sighed.

"I just got dumped with *my sister*" he replied. Joanne heard this, but was too happy to give a reply.  
"Duh, a sister?" asked Big Billy, looking the most confused.

"Guess so, guys," replied Ace as he pulled himself away from Joanne's embrace. Joanne looked at the other four, noticing their green skin.  
"Pphhhbbbbtttt pppphhhhbbbbtttt pphhhhbbttttt?" asked Grubber.  
"I didn't expect this either, Grubber! All I know is that I'm her brother and now she's with us!" replied Ace looking at Grubber. Joanne waved her hand to the gangsters.

"I'm Joanne Josie!" she said nicely.  
"Joanne?...We can call you JJ. We'd call ya Jojo, but that name's already bein' used by that crazy monker Mojo!" said Ace.  
"Okay!" returned Joanne  
"Good, 'cause we're gonna call you that whether you like it or not," her big brother said leaning over at her.

Joanne smiled at Ace, who took her by the arm and brought her inside the small shack.

Ace showed her to the only table in the shack. She sat down in a chair with Ace sitting right beside her. Ace and Joanne kept staring at each other. Joanne had a smile on her face, while Ace was just looking at her, trying to take in all that had happended. The other four gangreens joined them and all four of them were staring at Joanne. Snake was the only one brave enough to step up and ask about this strange girl.  
"Hey, bossss, who'sss thisss kid?" he asked. Ace then gave Snake a glance, then turned to look at Arturo, Big Billy, and Grubber.

"Boys, this is JJ. She's gonna be...well...stayin' with us. The woman that was just here started talkin' on and on about this kid bein' my sister. I didn't believe it 'til she proved it. Guys, this is my sister and our newest member of the gang. And that's how it's gonna be, got it?" explained Joanne's older brother as he held up a fist as he said "Got it?" The four others leaned back and agreed. Joanne was slightly surprised. She did not know that her brother was a gang leader, but seeing as this was a new experience for her, she decided to let it slide. _"Maybe I could learn something special or useful from these guys," _she thought to herself.

Arturo, Snake, Big Billy, and Grubber were puzzled by this piece of news. Their leader? His sister? And she joined them just like that? Each of the four had their own thoughts. _"Ace is taking this rather well," _thought Arturo. _"Ace has a ssssisssster! I wondersss if she can punch asss hard assss Ace can," _thought Snake worriedly. _"PPhhhbbbttt ppphhhbbbt ppphhhbbttt ppppphhhhbbbbbtttt pppphhhhhbbbtttt pphhhhbbbbtttt (Wow! So much is happening in such a short period of time! But why would Ace just let someone into the gang so suddenly. I mean I know she's his newfound sister but...damn, who knows what Ace is thinking right now)," _thought Grubber. _"Duh, Billy and gang have a new friend," _thought Billy.

As the gangreens were agreeing to what Ace was saying and thinking their thoughts, Joanne kept trying to hug Ace, but the rough young adult kept her arms off. Joanne felt a little discouraged, but she let it pass, thinking that Ace will come to love her soon. When Ace pulled her away from him, he smiled a little smile at his sister, thinking of all things he could get this little girl to do.

Joanne started pouring out questions.

"How long have you guys been friends? What do you do for fun? Why do you live in this shack?" she asked randomly. The male gangreens looked at each other. When they saw their leader's grin, they grinned as well, assumming that Ace had a plan up his sleeve.

"Well JJ, we've been friends for a long, long time. We like hangin' out here so that no one we hate can bother us. Now, when it comes to fun...," he said. His grin grew wider.

"Boys, why don't we just show her?" asked Ace. The other gangreens nodded and snickered. Joanne just sat there, wondering about what they were thinking. Ace took Joanne by the arm.  
"Come on guys, let's go show her!" he said as the other gangreens followed. When they came outside, Ace released Joanne's arm. Joanne rubbed her arm because of Ace's tight grip. As she rubbed it, she noticed Ace, Snake, Arturo, and Big Billy leaving for town.

"Try to catch up, JJ!" exclaimed Ace.

Joanne smiled and ran after the older boys.


	3. You're One of Us Now

**Chapter 3: **You're One of Us Now

Joanne tried her hardest to keep up with the older boys. As they left the dumped and went into the city, Joanne began to wonder about what they would be doing. Ace looked back a couple times to see if his sister was still with them. Joanne smiled whenever her brother would look back at her.

_"She sure does smile alot," _thought Ace. He did not quite understand his sister. She smiled often, though he did not smile nowhere near as much as she did. She was notably short, though not as short as Lil Arturo by any means. She was a much cheerier person than him. As these thoughts passed through Ace's mind, he began thinking of things he could do with this kid that would be fun. These thoughts on what to do to make her presence amusing to him consumed his mind.

After several minutes of walking around town, the gang came across a set of stairs that led to the subway that was underground. Joanne wondered what they would be doing in the subway besides riding the train. Joanne slipped past Arturo, Grubber, Billy, and Snake and tugged on Ace's shirt. When Ace felt his shirt being tugged, he looked down at her.  
"Are we going on a train ride?" she asked out of curiousity. Snake, Grubber, Billy, and Arturo snickered out of amusement. Ace glanced at the four of them.  
"Shaddup! The kid's askin' a question!" he snapped. The other 4 immediately grew silent.

Ace smiled down at the girl.  
"No way, kid," he said to her, trying to sound calm."You see, we like going to down to the subway. It's not 'cause of using the train. It's cause we...use the walls to...express ourselves...yeah that's it!" he said. Joanne scratched her head.  
"How do you do that?" she asked. Ace's smile grew more sly.  
"You'll see when we get down there," he replied. He looked back forward and the gang continued their way down to the subway.

The daylight gave way to the darkness that surrounded the tunnel. The only sources of light in the tunnel were the minor lights from the station and the occasional train lights that shined as trains went by. The gang came to one of the sides of track and, lo and behold, they found spray paint. The five boys took spray cans, shook the cans, and started spraying random messages on the wall. Joanne stood there in amazement. When she began to notice the vulgar messages being sprayed on the wall, she felt a little sick to her stomach. Three of their messages included "Powerpuff Girlz Suk", "The Mayors stoopid" and "Ms. Belums sexy", written in this incorrectly spelled format. Others included "pphhhbbbtttt" and the ever famous message "Graffiti by Big Billy".

"Guys? Why are you painting these hurtful messages on the wall? This is wrong," asked Joanne. The five boys gave her an annoyed look.  
"'Caussse it'ssss fun," replied Snake. After saying this, he went back to painting messages. Ace glanced at Snake annoyingly, then looked back at his little sister. He stepped out of the group already knowing what to tell her. He knelt down to her and tried to explain in the most sweet talk-esque way possible.

"JJ, this is the expressin' ourselves I told you about. We like coming down here and 'expressing ourselves'. Is expressin' ourselves wrong?" asked Ace gently. Joanne looked into the eyes of her brother. He had the fakest expression of innocence on his face, and the child was not able to fully deny her brother's claim.  
"But, brother, why express it through graffiti? I always thought that it was a crime," she said.

Ace sighed in aggravation. He took Joanne's shoulders and shook them slowly.  
"Listen, Jo, this is what we do! Here, I wanna show you somethin'," he replied. He showed her to the message he painted on the wall. On the wall, it now said _Gangreen Gang Rulez! _Like the other messages, it was misspelled.

Ace pointed Joanne's attention to the message.  
"You know how to read, right?" he asked sarcastically.  
"Well, yeah, the message says 'Gangreen Gang Rules' and you spelled 'rules' wrong," replied his sister. Ace rolled his eyes, obviously not caring about his misspelling.

"But, Jo, kid, that's what we are! We're the Gangreen Gang! And because of earlier, you just happened to get caught up in it, so now you're already one of us! It looks like that's what ya want. You want me to accept you, right?" he explained. Joanne nodded.  
"Yeah," she replied.  
"If I didn't like ya, I would've thrown you out and left you somewhere, but here you are doing somethin' fun with us! Isn't this what you wanted?" he asked, his smile sly, but still trustworthy looking. Joanne's look of confusion turned back into a smile. By now, Snake, Grubber, Big Billy, and Arturo we're all looking on at their conversation, agreeing and nodding their heads at what Ace was saying. When they boys saw Joanne's smile, they knew that Ace's words had won her over.

"That's it, Joanne! Go on and smile! She can if she wants, right, guys?" he asked.  
"Yess, sssmile!" replied Snake.  
"Si!" added Arturo.  
"Yeah," commented Big Billy.  
"Pphhhbbbttt," said Grubber.

"There you see, Joanne! You're one of us now," said Ace as he showed Joanne a paint can. Joanne excitedly took it and painted a message on the wall, which said _"The Gangreen Gang are awesome!" _

Joanne was proud of herself. She believed that she had finally earned her big brother's love and acceptance. The things her older brother had said to her remained her mind, especially the last thing he said to her before leaving the subway station.

_"You're one of us now." _


	4. The Letter For Ms Bell

**Chapter 4: **The Letter to Ms. Bell

For the rest of that certain week, Ms. Bell had been thinking about her little client, Joanne. Ever since she left the child with her older delinquent brother and his pals, she had been feeling oh so worried about her. She thought about what the gang could have been doing to her, what they might be telling her to do, and how Joanne might be feeling. Her doubts and fears consumed her mind and it seemed as if her worries would always be there to haunt and scare her. The day her worries would be challenged came when a week after leaving Joanne with Ace, a letter came to her. It was from Joanne. Seeing as Joanne had no phone or easy access to email, writing a letter had to be the only way Joanne could talk to anyone who was far away. When Ms. Bell recieved the letter, she quickly rea who it was from, ripped the letter opened, and started reading the letter very carefully.

_Dear Ms. Bell,_

_It's me, Joanne! How are you? I hope you're doing good! I'm doing alright myself, in case you're wondering. I like it here in Townsville with my big brother and his friends. It's alot different than living in my foster mom's house in Metroville. My big brother and his friends have been showing me how to do alot of fun things. My brother says that people think they're bad, when really, they're not bad at all! They always seem to get in trouble whenever they have fun. Even when it's something harmless like expressing ourselves through painting messages about how we feel. That's what we like to do sometimes for fun. We also like to do what Ace calls "asking old ladies and small kids for money 'cause we need some". Whenever we ask them for it, they say no some of the time. When they do, Ace and his friends persuade them using something they say is really harmless called "force". It seemed harmful to me at first, but my brother told me that it wasn't harmful at all. They even let me ask them! At first it didn't go so well, so the guys came in and helped. Other times, we like to go to the pizza parlor and get our pizza for free! I'm not kidding when I say this! All we do is go in, take the pizza and leave. It's so simple. It looked like stealing, but Ace told me that we weren't stealing, but were just helping the pizza guys get rid of the ones that they didn't need. That made sense to me! Helping them out by just going in and taking the pizza, knowing that they don't need it, and then enjoying ourselves! Now that's fun! Especially when we get the pizza and then run out of the store. Ace says that we run because we shouldn't let precious time get in the way of enjoying ourselves. That sounds right to me. They also say that things like personal hygiene are for losers. That's why when Ace asked me what the back pack I had on my back had, he threw away my toothbrush, soap, and other stuff like that when he looked inside, since he said that he had every right to, since he was my new guardian. He said I wouldn't be needing all those things anymore. I guess if Ace says so, then it must be true.  
I don't see why everyone hates my brother and his friends. They're super cool and know everything about what they say I should know. They say that when it comes to being in a gang, the main thing I have to remember is that if one of us gets into a problem with someone else, we all gotta jump in and help each other out. That's something gangs do, because that's what we are. Ace says that a gang is a group of people like us who get to do whatever we want in the place we live in. That's good to know because we all loving doing whatever we want. We're the Gangreen Gang; a gang who does whatever we want in the city of Townsville. Doesn't that sound exciting? I sure think so!  
I've gotten to know alot about my brother, Ace, since I first met him. He's cool, smart, exciting, and fun! He's a little harsh, but I'm sure all gang leaders get like that. His friends are cool too. There's this one guy named Snake who literally looks like a snake. He's got the eyes, the forked tongue, and the long snake like way towards him. He even talks like a snake. It's cool! I remember the day after I came to live with Ace, I overheard him talking to Snake about how he had to be "really nice to my sister! If not, I'll punch ya even harder!" Maybe that's out of all the guys, Snake's been really nice to me. That kinda made me think, but it quickly passed on. For some reason, my brother tends to punch him whenever Snake would say something. I really want to ask Ace why, but I'm afraid that if I do, he might think I'm nosy, and I don't want him to think that. I've been doing all I can to be accepted by them that I don't wanna blow it! Anyway, there's this other guy who's super short named Lil Arturo. He's even shorter than me! He has big bottom teeth and carries a comb in his pocket that he likes to take out and use in his hair often. When I asked him why he had one, he told me this story about his dad and how he gave it to Arturo before he died. It's kinda sad, but Arturo seems to be doing fine despite his loss. Sometimes, he speaks Spanish, so sometimes I can't understand what he's saying. Then there's Grubber. He only speaks in raspberries, which I can't understand why at all. Whenever he'd speak, I'd always have to ask Ace about what he said. Then Ace would tell me about what he said. Other than that, Grubber seems to be interesting to me. He can play the violin! I don't know anybody else who can! And then there's Big Billy! He's huge!! He talks kinda funny, though nowhere near as funny as Grubber. He can lift heavy things and likes to listen to us talk. He seems to be okay with anything that we do. He's just happy go lucky and goes with the flow. Throughout this whole time I've been with the gang, not one of our fights were started by Billy. He's alright.  
It may look easy to be around these guys, but it's kinda not. I've had to learn to do alot of things that the gang does. I don't want to think that I'm some kind of sissy. I want them to think that they could accept me, especially Ace. He told me that he liked me the day I first met him, which was my goal at first, but now that that's done, now I gotta find a reason why he ought to love me. He hasn't shown me that he does, so I guess I just have to try harder. You said that he would when I asked you if he would, so I'm gonna try and make sure that he does.  
So that's my new home. It's full of learning, fun, and excitement. And I get to have fun with my family! Everything's turning out great. I'll mail you back later. _

_ Sincerely, Joanne_

When Ms. Bell finished the letter, she knew what had to be done. She turned to a phone she had recieved earlier that week. It was a white phone with a red handle, and a yellow smile. She picked up the red handle and dialed.

"Hello?" asked the reciever.  
"Powerpuff girls, I need you to meet me in Townsville Park tomorrow evening at 6 pm. It's about Joanne," replied Ms. Bell.


	5. Joanne Meets the Girls

**Chapter 5: **Joanne Meets the Girls

"Man it'ssss cold outss here," said Snake. Ace rolled his eyes.  
"What'd you expect, sherlock? It's November!" he replied. Snake looked at his bare arms and decided that it time to start wearing long sleeved shirts and longer pants just to keep himself from freezing. The others, however, had no trouble. Big Billy large stature prevented him from getting too cold, Grubber had no problem with the cold, Arturo had always worn his long sleeved shirt and black pants, Ace always had his pants and jacket, and Joanne had her warm tobaggon, her hoodie, and jeans. Snake was the only one feeling really cold.  
"Snake, would you like to wear my hoodie and then later we can find you a nice jacket?" asked Joanne nicely. Snake looked down at the generous child and shook his head.  
"Naah, but thanksss kid," he replied.

While the gang was walking through the park, they saw a group of ten year olds talking to each other. When Ace noticed them, he thought it would be fun to see if the kids had money or at least were worth their time to push around.  
"Hey, let's go see if those kids got any goods," Ace said to tho five behind him. The four other boys nodded while Joanne placed her attention on the boys. She was the first to step forward and as she cleared her voice, they boys took their attention to her and the five other green skinned gangsters.  
"Hey, who are you martians supposed to be?" asked a red head, ten year old, assumed to be the leader of this soon-to-be unfortunate group.  
"We're not martians!" replied Joanne, feeling a little hurt by the comment. As Ace watched Joanne handle the situation, he signaled for Big Billy to take them by their ankles and shake them so they could see what was inside their pockets. Joanne watched as Big Billy took the boys and shook them up and down. When Billy was through with shaking them, he tossed them aside and the five boys came to their knees to see what they now had. There were several quarters, dollars, trading cards, and other pocket-sized knick knacks. Joanne got on her knees as well and started taking some of the quarters and dollars.  
"Put those down!" commanded a female voice. The gang looked up and lo and behold, it was none other than the Powerpuff Girls, one of the main sources of their grief and hatred. Ace did not even have to look at the girls to know that he did not get out of there quickly, he knew he and the other gangsters were going to get severly beaten for their actions.  
"Quick guys, get what you can and let's beat it!" he immediately said. The boys started grabbing random objects and was about to run away. Suddenly, the girls took hold of the boys' shirts and began beating them up, leaving Joanne on her knees in the grass.  
As Joanne watched the girls beat up her brother and his friends, she felt a mental pain that she had never felt. This, she believed, was the pain of seeing her brother being hurt by these people. Watching her brother being hurt soon made Joanne jump to her feet and tackle the girls. She pulled on Blossom, jumped on Bubbles, and pushed Buttercup. However, the girls stopped her, not by force, but by simply taking her and sitting her down on the ground and thus started a conversation.  
"You must be Joanne," started Blossom. Joanne glared at her.  
"Yeah, and I don't want you hurting them!"she replied angrily. The three superheroes looked at each other and knew what had to be done. The girls took her by the arms and rose into the air with her.  
"Hey, watcha doing? Let me go!" demanded Joanne.  
"Joanne we need to talk to you privately," replied Blossom.  
"We'll finish dealing with you five later," said Buttercup with disdain. By this time, the boys were already lying on the ground, feeling absolute and physical pain.  
"No...you ain't..." replied Ace before he lost the will to even move.  
And with that, the girls flew away together. Joanne reached out her hand, hoping that one of the boys would have enough strength to reach up and save her. None of them did so.

After flying for a few minutes, the girls landed on the roof of a secluded building. Once Joanne's feet were placed on the ground, she immediately began her attempt to escape. She found no way to do so, seeing as the superheroes were blocking any ways of leaving. Joanne glared at the girls.  
"Let me go! I wanna go back my brother and friends!" she snapped. Blossom stepped forward and sat Joanne down.  
"Listen, Joanne, sweetie, your brother and friends are exactly what we need to talk to you about," she announced. Joanne folded her arms and tried hard not to listen.  
"Joanne, let us explain. You see, we're the Powerpuff Girls and-" explained Blossom.  
"I already know who you are. You're the Powerpuff Girls! My brother says that you're a trio of goody-good brats who are always ruining everyone's fun! And I'm the type who don't like getting their fun messed up!" interrupted Joanne. Buttercup glowered at Joanne, who glowered at her as well.  
"Listen, Joanne, your brother is not a very nice person. The things that he does are not good things to do," explained Blossom as plainly as she could.  
"No, you don't understand. Ace says that the things we do aren't really bad. We're epressing ourselves, helping people get rid of pizza they don't need and there are even times when people don't want their money so they give it to us!" explained Joanne.  
"Open your eyes, Jo!!" replied Buttercup getting in the nine year old child's face. "Don't you think that _maybe _what you're doing is wrong?! Haven't you thought about that?!"

Joanne backed up from Buttercup and covered her ears.  
"I don't want to hear this! Ace is a great brother and he'd do nothin' to hurt me or anyone else!" exclaimed Joanne.  
"You don't know what you're saying!" replied Bubbles.

"Yes she is!" replied Ace from behind. The girls looked behind and saw the Gangreen Gang standing behind them. When they saw the Powerpuff Girls fly away with Joanne, they had decided to follow and bring Joanne back with them.  
"Guys! You're here!" cried Jo.  
"If you guys think you're going to take Joanne back with you, you're out of luck!" cried Blossom.  
"Oh yeah?!" replied Ace. "Let's hear what Jo has to say!"

Joanne's eyes widened. The Powerpuffs looked back at Joanne.  
"Joanne, take into consideration about what we've said! They're hazing you! You don't have to be with them! Don't be like them!" told the girls at different times.  
"Hey, kid! Don't ya wanna us to like ya? Remember what we said when we met ya? You want me to like ya, right?" Ace said slyly.  
Joanne looked back at the girls and then back at the boys. The voices of the girls telling her who the gang really was along with the voices of the gang telling her to come back to them rang her ears very loudly. Joanne had to cover her ears to avoid the overload she was being given. The overload became too much for her.  
"AAAUUUGGGHHH YOU'RE MAKING ME CONFUSED!! STOP IT STOP IT AND AGAIN STOP IT!!" she yelled out of insanity.

Though there were a couple voices after her scream, they quickly shushed and then there was silence as Joanne thought about what she wanted. Did she want to stay with her family? Did she want her trust in the heroes?

She wanted family over truth.  
Joanne glowered at the girls and walked straight past them. When she was finally behind the girls rather than in front, she stopped and gave them one last nasty look. Then after turning away from them one last time, she smiled as she ran to Ace and hugged him tightly. Ace smiled too, but rather than smiling a cheerful one, it was more of a smile of a victory on the side of crime and corruption.  
"Well, looks like the kid's made up her mind," he said. The Powerpuffs were disappointed, especially Buttercup, remembering the hatred she had for them from when she was in Joanne's shoes, those days in which she had feelings for Ace and how wanted to hang out with him. If there was one person who believed that Joanne's pursue for his acceptance was going to end in shambles, it was Buttercup.

"Ain'tcha gonna do somethin' about this?" asked Joanne to the Powerpuffs, completely avoiding eye contact with them. At first the girls did nothing, then suddenly, out of nowhere, the girls zipped up to the gang and resumed the fight they had in the park. Like last time, they did not touch Joanne, just as they did when Joanne made her choice to stick with the gang. Joanne watched as her brother and his friends were punched, slapped, zapped, and bruised. Joanne's dislike for the Powerpuff Girls turned into hatred as she found a metal bar on the ground and started whaking the superheroes in the head. The hits were so hard, that the girls had no choice but to stop.  
"Joanne stop!" commanded Blossom.  
"No Powerpuff Girls! I'll stop when you stop beating them!!" replied Joanne harshly. The girls continual hits began to make them feel dizzy. As much as they wanted to fight her, they knew that they were asked not to. When the girls set their feet on the ground, they were only able to take one look up before Joanne gave one final swing, the hardest and most painful of them all. This finally made the girls stop and fall to the ground in unconsciousness. As the girls lay motionless on the ground, Joanne dropped the bar and looked up at the boys. She smiled again at them.  
"Can we go home now?" asked Joanne. Ace patted her on the back and started walking and so did the others.  
"Yeah, let's go," said Ace.  
"Did you see the way I knocked out those Powerpuff Girls?" she asked proudly. As the guys walked off the roof and down the stairs, the guys looked back at the girl and all had things to say about her beating up the girls.  
"You're probablysss the firsssst out of usss to ever dosss thatsss," replied Snake.  
"You one tough chica," added Arturo.  
"Pphhhbbbttt," spat Grubber.  
"Duh yeah," replied Big Billy. Joanne then looked up at Ace and hoped that this would make him love her so.

"What do you think, brother? I beat up the Powerpuff Girls!!" she said cheerfully. When she said this, Ace did not say a thing. He was very glad that Joanne had defeated the girls, but there was more that he had to say. He waited until they had gotten back into the dump. When they reached there, he looked at the other boys.  
"Hey, guys, I wanna talk to Joanne alone, so get into the house or somethin'," he said. Joanne was wondering why he was waiting so long to speak to her.  
"So Ace, what do think of...AAAUUUGGGHHH!" said Joanne as she started out soft and gentle but then let out a scream. Before Ace let her finish her sentence, he took his and and slapped her face, leaving a red mark on her face. Joanne fell to her behind and placed her hand on her cheek where it was slapped. Joanne shook as she wondered the sudden change in her brother.

"A-Ace what's wrong? What d-did I do? D-don't you h-hate the girls?" she asked weakly.  
"Yeah I do!! But I also hate freakin' idiots!!" yelled Ace harshly. Joanne stared at her brother in fear.  
"What do you mean?" she asked scared. As the angered young man came closer to Joanne, the frightened girl, still on the ground, backed herself up with her legs until she was stopped by a pile of junk. She placed her knees to her chest and tried to hide her face with her tobaggon hat.

"Why didn't you do anythin' when thost damn girls showed up earlier in the park? Why didn't you fight them then or when we were on the roof?! Don't you remember what I told when you got here? If a gang member gets into a fight, we all gotta get into it together!! You didn't do anythin' until later!! If you had joined the fight sooner, those girls would've been down sooner!! God, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Ace replied harshly.  
"I-I'm sorry. I'll try better next time!" she returned trying to defend herself. When she turned away, Ace's angry face turned to one of simple frustation. He let out a simple sigh and lightly punched Joanne, making her let out a little squeal. Joanne looked back up at Ace, noticing the calm, but still frustrated look on his face.  
"Whatever...just...you'd better do better next time," he said. Joanne nodded at him.  
"Oh I will, Ace, I promise," she replied. Ace took one last look at Joanne, grunted harshly and walked away just leaving her there on the ground_._

_"I'll do better next time. Next time, those girls are really gonna get it! Then Ace will finally love me and we'll be a happy brother and sister pair, just as it needs to be_," thought Joanne.

_"I'm in a place that no one should be.  
And I see it on your face that you'd care about me.  
Why can't you just be in love with me?  
Why can't you just see who I am?  
Why can't you just be in love with me?  
Why can't you just see who I am?  
But now it's too late.  
What's been done has been done and I've sealed in my fate.__"__  
__  
-_"Be in Love", Amber G.


	6. Joanne's Attempt

**Chapter 6: **Joanne's Attempts

As the weeks passed, the cold weather became the least of Joanne's troubles. She was still doing everything in her power to win Ace's approval. Whenever they spray painted, Joanne tried to make hers look as Gangreen-ish as possible. Whenever they ambushed an old lady or a defenseless child, she tried to be as initimidating and engage in the attack as much as possible. Despite the fact that trying to make Ace approve was difficult, Joanne was determined. All she could think about was what she could do or say that would make Ace laugh, reply, any type of reaction would help in some way. This sometimes resulted in her getting a quick punch or slap from her big brother, similiar to those Snake recieved. This made her believe that the more blows she got, the more she needed to improve. Unfortunately, this was beginning to affect her mentally. The more Joanne tried to please Ace, the more innocense she lost, the meaner she became, the more rough she acted to those outside the gang, especially towards the Powerpuff Girls.  
Whenever the Powerpuff Girls would interfere with the gang's activities, Joanne was now getting as many blows by the Girls as the other gangsters, for by now, the Girls knew who Joanne wanted to be and was now being treated as such. Each fight was another disaster for the gang, and just another simple victory by the Girls. Joanne really wanted to do something about those Powerpuff Girls, but she wanted to do by herself; she thought if this was done by herself, and not a group effort, Ace would no doubt be happy and thus, love her. She felt if this was done, she and Ace would finally be a happy family, and having Snake, Arturo, Big Billy, and Grubber, Joanne thought, would make the family bigger and all the better. However, this was her hope.  
When Christmas came, Joanne had to find as much money as she could to buy presents for the boys. She stole some from old ladies, had to rob some lunch money from younger kids, and even found some dollar bills on the ground. She did whatever it took to make them happy. Everyone was pretty happy with their gifts. Snake got a sweater and long jeans, which made him feel quite relieved since Townsville's been known to get very cold in the winter. Big Billy recieved a teddy bear that was to replace one he had gotten from a garage sale from Mojo Jojo; the teddy bear was ripped by Ace out of frustration (PPG episode "Bang for your Buck"). Grubber recieved a violin case for his violin which he only played occasionally like when Ace said to relax. Lil Arturo recieved a special case for his comb which looked like switchblade; the case was to avoid the comb from poking at his side multiple times. Ace recieved a box for his glasses so that they would not break or bent when Ace would sleep on them or anything of that nature. Joanne gave much but recieved little, but she did not mind. All she cared about was making Ace and the others happy.  
After Christmas ended, Joanne continued her attempts to make Ace happy. She accepted every pop in the face, every pull of the hair, and every insult she would be given as "constructive criticism". Joanne thought that these things were helping her. She did not seem to notice that the more blows she took from Ace, the more physical pain she felt.

One day, a few weeks after the new year started, Joanne woke up to find that all the other gang members were still asleep. She slipped on her hoodie and opened the shack's door quietly. She took two steps out, closed the door as silently as possible, and started to walk around. She climbed up a tall trash heap and soon found herself at the very top. She looked left and right and decided to take in her surroundings. She sat down in the top of the trash heap and watched the early morning sky look back down at her. The orange and purple clouds complimented the early blue sky, making Joanne sit there speechless with a small smile. It had been the first time in two months when she finally had some time to herself to experience complete peace. She would have been able to do it sooner, much sooner, but because of trying really hard to keep up with the boys and trying to make Ace's life easier, it was rare when Joanne finally had some peace and quiet.  
Joanne could not help, but think about her attempts to please Ace. This made her notice the aches and pains she felt arounf her body from all the times Joanne let Ace make her his punching bag for whenever he got angry, upset, or when he felt like he just had to hit something. In the past, it was always Snake who suffered this, but after Joanne showed up, they shared the blows. The child frowned, hoping that the blows would decrease once Ace began to appreciate her more; and maybe if she worked extra hard, Snake's blows would decrease as well.  
Joanne never truly noticed her wounds until that moment. She looked down the shirt that lied underneath her hoodie and noticed bruises on her stomach and chest. She could not believe that she hadn't noticed or tended to them. She tried to deny the thought of Ace giving these wounds to her, but then again, she thought, he had been giving her alot of blows lately. The child looked forward and as she saw the sun drift into the sky, she thought long and hard about what to do. She could talk to someone, but who? She could try something, but what?  
"Have I really been bothering Ace that much? It looks I'll have to be perfect to avoid these bruises and pains. Obviously these are from my mistakes...maybe...perfection, that's my only guess," she said to herself. "All I have to do is be perfect, and then Ace won't have a reason to hit me, and then everything will be alright."

"But that means I'll have to work extra hard. It's a risk I gotta take though."

_"I see the lighting on the mirrored wall that you wrote last fall.  
It doesn't say the same thing now; not the same at all.  
I wonder round you to the darkened night. Why is it so bright?  
I search for you everywhere we've been. But you're not there.  
You're not here or anywhere at all.  
I will love you throught the sugar storm.  
You will love me when the night has come.  
I will love you through the sugar storm.  
You will love me when the night has come." _

-Sugar Storm, Amber G.


End file.
